A Bullet

 

A BULLET

PROLOGUE

 

A bullet. A gun. A killer. A man. A life. A wife. A baby. A son. A family. A death. A job. A bullet…

This was how a young boy named Sean Davis entered this world. Without a father. Without a role-model. Without a piece of his heart.

 

CHAPTER ONE

SEAN

 

Sean awoke to the sound of screaming. He sat bolt upright in his bed, listening to the ear-piercing shriek of his mother. He flicked on the light by his bedside. He waited for his heart to slow, and then cautiously crept into the corridor, fearing what awaited him. His mother screamed again, louder and sharper. He stepped into her room, and saw her lying in her bed, drenched in sweat. 

“Mum! Mum, what’s happening!?” He shouted. His mother spoke a word, incomprehensible to Sean. She repeated the word, a little clearer this time.

“baby.” Sean understood immediately. He rushed downstairs, grabbed the phone and dialled 999.

“Hello, emergency services, which service do you require?”

“Ambulance”

“I’ll patch you through”

“Thank you”

Sean waited for the receiver to pick up.

“Hello ambulance service”

“Hi, I think my mum’s having a baby……”  

 

***************************************************

 

The shallow wail of a baby boy penetrated the looming silence throughout the maternity ward. Sean held the boy for the first time since his birth. He looked at his innocent eyes, completely unaware to his current situation, a look of complete, unadulterated awe on his face. He hadn’t expected to feel so cold. He thought that this baby would have brought him joy like his mother, but he felt … nothing. There was no joy, no happiness, no relief. But there was also no hatred. He didn’t hate the child; he just simply didn’t love it. He felt void of all emotion.

       He tried to hide all of this for his mother’s sake though. It wasn’t fair for her if he just rejected the thing. He carefully rocked it back and forth in his arms. The baby stopped crying. He lay, still, as if charmed by this adolescent’s cool touch. His eyes locked with Sean’s and then the feeling came. Then came a wave of pure, no-strings-attached, feeling. He was taken completely unaware for the wash of love which took over him.

 

***************************************************

 

It was almost sickening to watch from the window. The man watching this marvellous scene knew that this baby would never see his father. Never have a role-model. Just like the elder one. And again it was because of him. He thought that it was hard enough the first time. But no, it was much harder the second. He had never felt such guilt from any job that he had done before. He still remembered the pure brutality of the murder.

       The man walking from his work to a hospital to see his son being born. He had a smile on his face and a spring in his step. But one bullet had ended that. One simple, silent shot, had taken away all of the joy, all of the happiness. And that was what scared him. The guilt. He was trained to not feel guilt. But he did. He didn’t know why, he didn’t want to know why. He just wanted it to end. He wanted it to be just like it was before. But he knew that could never be the case.

       He forced his eyes away from the scene. He had to do something to take his mind away from it. He started to walk towards an all-night café. He walked in and sat down. A waitress wearing a revealing top strolled over chewing gum.

       “What d’ya want?”

“A coffee. Milk. No sugar.”

The waitress strolled away, her only care being where her next pay-check was coming from. He identified every person in the entire room as a possible target. He then scratched off each one in a mental list, leaving him with only three possible targets. A man in a “Chelsea FC” tracksuit, blue sneakers and mirrored sunglasses. A woman next to the window in a sharp black dress with a laptop and sipping a latte. And finally a man in jeans and a hoodie, obviously trying, but failing, to fit in with the younger crowd.

       His coffee came and he sipped it. Still trying to picture the work environments in which they would normally be suited. The tracksuit-man and the black-dress woman were easy to picture. But the final man was a challenge, even to him. He felt sure that this man was not what he seemed. He felt like he was being watched. He hated paranoia, but it was an annual part of his job. He downed his coffee, left a 5 dollar bill on the table, and walked, briskly yet inauspiciously down the street. He still had the feeling that he was being watched. He glanced back, and saw tracksuit man heading down another street.

       “One down.” He thought to himself. He chuckled, inaudibly.

       “What was that?” He turned, suddenly and saw tracksuit man in front of him. The man threw a punch, clumsily, but it still landed with a sickening thud on its target. Tracksuit man stared down at him.

       He smiled and walked away. Which was a silly mistake. He barely made ten paces before crumpling to the floor. A silenced bullet was in his spine before he could say “Chelsea”.

He got up, dusted himself down and put away his gun. He strolled in the opposite direction not particularly aiming for anything, just wanting to be away from the scene. He made some random turns and found a high street. He grinned. No-one would find him here. He casually walked, glancing in a shop here, looking at a café there. Then something caught his eye. He noticed a woman walking 100 yards ahead. She was wearing a black dress. He turned right. She followed. He realised she was from the café as well. He thought how complex this set-up was, and realised that this was no coincidence. Neither was it a small business. This was huge. He spun on his heels and started pacing towards a large JJB department store. He entered and headed straight towards the football shirts. He glanced in a mirror. She had entered the shop. She, however, headed straight upstairs. He smiled and headed out of the back door.

Only to be met with another fist. This one really knocked him for six. His eyes went blurry and he stumbled a couple of steps. He got a quick glance at who his attacker was, and glimpsed some jeans and a hoodie. So his suspicions were accurate. He realised now that he wasn’t going to get away. He felt another punch to the eye, but he still didn’t fall. He threw a quick punch and connected with something.

It was a wall. His knuckles were bleeding. His vision was blurry. His legs were quaking. He was fighting a losing battle. But he wasn’t going down without a fight. He started throwing punches wildly, hoping to connect. He felt something softer than a wall beneath his fist, and rubbed his eyes. His vision restored. He saw the man, holding his jaw, blood gushing out of his mouth. It was a great shot.

He grabbed his gun again and held it to the man’s head. He pulled the trigger. The gun jammed.

“That’s impossible. It never jams!” He exclaimed. The man laughed.

“You really don’t know what you’re up against do you?” There was a sound of about 20 odd rifles cocking. He dropped his gun, and raised his hands above his head. 25 armed men appeared from the shadows. One of them hit him with the back of their gun from behind, and he was out cold.

 

***************************************************

 

Sean handed the baby back to his mother. He returned her smile. He glanced out of the window, only to see a figure heading away from the hospital. He decided to ignore it. After all, how bad could it be?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two

Lisa

 

       Her phone started buzzing. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock next to her bed. It read 01:59. She picked the phone up and saw that it was Sean.

“Hello?” She barely stifled a yawn as she answered.

“Hello Lisa?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got to tell you something.”

“Sean, can’t it wait till morning. It’s 2 am.”

“No it really can’t wait.”

“Well, what is it then?”

“My mum had the baby.”

She dropped her phone on the bed.

“Hold on. I’ll be right there.” She hung up the phone, pulled on some clothes and crept out of the house.

 

***************************************************

 

It took her 3 minutes to run to the hospital. She didn’t live far away and she was a champion cross-country runner. She burst into the maternity ward.

“Sean.” She leapt into his outstretched arms.

“Lisa-!”

“I know! I know! Where’s the baby?”

“He’s over here.” She saw the child in Sean’s mum’s arms and smiled.

“We’re going to name him Liam.” But Lisa was only half-listening. She stared at the angel in front of her.

“You can hold him if you like.” Sean’s mum said.

“Can I?” She gently lifted the baby out of the mother’s arms, and cradled him in her own. She smiled down at the baby.

“Hey Liam.” She whispered, stroking his nose delicately with a single finger.

“Liam, this is your Aunt Lisa, okay?”

She was overcome with joy.

“I get to be an aunt?” She stifled a cry of joy.

“Well, there’s no-one else really is there?” replied Sean.

“I guess not” concluded Lisa. She was overcome with emotions. She was an aunt! She had never thought that she would be aunt because she had no siblings. But she and Sean were practically siblings. They did everything together. They had been friends almost from the moment that they met. That was in pre-school and they had stayed friends ever since.

       Suddenly, the baby began to wail. But it wasn’t an annoying screeching wail like in the movies. No. This was a warm, comforting wail. Almost like the baby was saying “Wow. Look at all of the space.” Lisa comforted the weeping infant in a matter of seconds, and passed it back to Sean. The baby couldn’t take its eyes off of her. She would remember that look for years to come.

 

***************************************************

 

 “Where were you young lady!?” Her mother’s piercing voice screeched through the hallway and straight into her earlobes. She bit her lip. This would take some excusing.

“I, er, went for a run.” She replied.

“At 2 o’clock in the morning?” Her mother glared at her with her scrutinising eyes, seeking the truth.

“Yeah, there’s never any traffic around so I like to go early.”

“You weren’t with that Sean boy were you?”

“No.”

“Because you know that I hate him don’t you?”

“Yes mum, I know.”

“Well you’re grounded for a month!”

“But mum-”

“No buts, straight to your room”. 

Lisa’s feet clumped up the stairs, every step audible from the sitting room below. The dust which had collectively settled underneath the stairs flew to the floor and landed with a dull THUMP.  

       She threw open her door and grabbed her phone. She started typing a message to Sean:

 

Grnded, cnt c u 2nite

 

It only took a couple of minutes for him to reply:

 

Sneak out, I nd 2 c u

She was slightly annoyed at the fact that he didn’t even care that she was grounded, but did it all the same. She crept out of the house, and ran around to the park. A BULLET

PROLOGUE

 

A bullet. A gun. A killer. A man. A life. A wife. A baby. A son. A family. A death. A job. A bullet…

This was how a young boy named Sean Davis entered this world. Without a father. Without a role-model. Without a piece of his heart.

 

CHAPTER ONE

SEAN

 

Sean awoke to the sound of screaming. He sat bolt upright in his bed, listening to the ear-piercing shriek of his mother. He flicked on the light by his bedside. He waited for his heart to slow, and then cautiously crept into the corridor, fearing what awaited him. His mother screamed again, louder and sharper. He stepped into her room, and saw her lying in her bed, drenched in sweat. 

“Mum! Mum, what’s happening!?” He shouted. His mother spoke a word, incomprehensible to Sean. She repeated the word, a little clearer this time.

“baby.” Sean understood immediately. He rushed downstairs, grabbed the phone and dialled 999.

“Hello, emergency services, which service do you require?”

“Ambulance”

“I’ll patch you through”

“Thank you”

Sean waited for the receiver to pick up.

“Hello ambulance service”

“Hi, I think my mum’s having a baby……”  

 

***************************************************

 

The shallow wail of a baby boy penetrated the looming silence throughout the maternity ward. Sean held the boy for the first time since his birth. He looked at his innocent eyes, completely unaware to his current situation, a look of complete, unadulterated awe on his face. He hadn’t expected to feel so cold. He thought that this baby would have brought him joy like his mother, but he felt … nothing. There was no joy, no happiness, no relief. But there was also no hatred. He didn’t hate the child; he just simply didn’t love it. He felt void of all emotion.

       He tried to hide all of this for his mother’s sake though. It wasn’t fair for her if he just rejected the thing. He carefully rocked it back and forth in his arms. The baby stopped crying. He lay, still, as if charmed by this adolescent’s cool touch. His eyes locked with Sean’s and then the feeling came. Then came a wave of pure, no-strings-attached, feeling. He was taken completely unaware for the wash of love which took over him.

 

***************************************************

 

It was almost sickening to watch from the window. The man watching this marvellous scene knew that this baby would never see his father. Never have a role-model. Just like the elder one. And again it was because of him. He thought that it was hard enough the first time. But no, it was much harder the second. He had never felt such guilt from any job that he had done before. He still remembered the pure brutality of the murder.

       The man walking from his work to a hospital to see his son being born. He had a smile on his face and a spring in his step. But one bullet had ended that. One simple, silent shot, had taken away all of the joy, all of the happiness. And that was what scared him. The guilt. He was trained to not feel guilt. But he did. He didn’t know why, he didn’t want to know why. He just wanted it to end. He wanted it to be just like it was before. But he knew that could never be the case.

       He forced his eyes away from the scene. He had to do something to take his mind away from it. He started to walk towards an all-night café. He walked in and sat down. A waitress wearing a revealing top strolled over chewing gum.

       “What d’ya want?”

“A coffee. Milk. No sugar.”

The waitress strolled away, her only care being where her next pay-check was coming from. He identified every person in the entire room as a possible target. He then scratched off each one in a mental list, leaving him with only three possible targets. A man in a “Chelsea FC” tracksuit, blue sneakers and mirrored sunglasses. A woman next to the window in a sharp black dress with a laptop and sipping a latte. And finally a man in jeans and a hoodie, obviously trying, but failing, to fit in with the younger crowd.

       His coffee came and he sipped it. Still trying to picture the work environments in which they would normally be suited. The tracksuit-man and the black-dress woman were easy to picture. But the final man was a challenge, even to him. He felt sure that this man was not what he seemed. He felt like he was being watched. He hated paranoia, but it was an annual part of his job. He downed his coffee, left a 5 dollar bill on the table, and walked, briskly yet inauspiciously down the street. He still had the feeling that he was being watched. He glanced back, and saw tracksuit man heading down another street.

       “One down.” He thought to himself. He chuckled, inaudibly.

       “What was that?” He turned, suddenly and saw tracksuit man in front of him. The man threw a punch, clumsily, but it still landed with a sickening thud on its target. Tracksuit man stared down at him.

       He smiled and walked away. Which was a silly mistake. He barely made ten paces before crumpling to the floor. A silenced bullet was in his spine before he could say “Chelsea”.

He got up, dusted himself down and put away his gun. He strolled in the opposite direction not particularly aiming for anything, just wanting to be away from the scene. He made some random turns and found a high street. He grinned. No-one would find him here. He casually walked, glancing in a shop here, looking at a café there. Then something caught his eye. He noticed a woman walking 100 yards ahead. She was wearing a black dress. He turned right. She followed. He realised she was from the café as well. He thought how complex this set-up was, and realised that this was no coincidence. Neither was it a small business. This was huge. He spun on his heels and started pacing towards a large JJB department store. He entered and headed straight towards the football shirts. He glanced in a mirror. She had entered the shop. She, however, headed straight upstairs. He smiled and headed out of the back door.

Only to be met with another fist. This one really knocked him for six. His eyes went blurry and he stumbled a couple of steps. He got a quick glance at who his attacker was, and glimpsed some jeans and a hoodie. So his suspicions were accurate. He realised now that he wasn’t going to get away. He felt another punch to the eye, but he still didn’t fall. He threw a quick punch and connected with something.

It was a wall. His knuckles were bleeding. His vision was blurry. His legs were quaking. He was fighting a losing battle. But he wasn’t going down without a fight. He started throwing punches wildly, hoping to connect. He felt something softer than a wall beneath his fist, and rubbed his eyes. His vision restored. He saw the man, holding his jaw, blood gushing out of his mouth. It was a great shot.

He grabbed his gun again and held it to the man’s head. He pulled the trigger. The gun jammed.

“That’s impossible. It never jams!” He exclaimed. The man laughed.

“You really don’t know what you’re up against do you?” There was a sound of about 20 odd rifles cocking. He dropped his gun, and raised his hands above his head. 25 armed men appeared from the shadows. One of them hit him with the back of their gun from behind, and he was out cold.

 

***************************************************

 

Sean handed the baby back to his mother. He returned her smile. He glanced out of the window, only to see a figure heading away from the hospital. He decided to ignore it. After all, how bad could it be?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two

Lisa

 

       Her phone started buzzing. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock next to her bed. It read 01:59. She picked the phone up and saw that it was Sean.

“Hello?” She barely stifled a yawn as she answered.

“Hello Lisa?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got to tell you something.”

“Sean, can’t it wait till morning. It’s 2 am.”

“No it really can’t wait.”

“Well, what is it then?”

“My mum had the baby.”

She dropped her phone on the bed.

“Hold on. I’ll be right there.” She hung up the phone, pulled on some clothes and crept out of the house.

 

***************************************************

 

It took her 3 minutes to run to the hospital. She didn’t live far away and she was a champion cross-country runner. She burst into the maternity ward.

“Sean.” She leapt into his outstretched arms.

“Lisa-!”

“I know! I know! Where’s the baby?”

“He’s over here.” She saw the child in Sean’s mum’s arms and smiled.

“We’re going to name him Liam.” But Lisa was only half-listening. She stared at the angel in front of her.

“You can hold him if you like.” Sean’s mum said.

“Can I?” She gently lifted the baby out of the mother’s arms, and cradled him in her own. She smiled down at the baby.

“Hey Liam.” She whispered, stroking his nose delicately with a single finger.

“Liam, this is your Aunt Lisa, okay?”

She was overcome with joy.

“I get to be an aunt?” She stifled a cry of joy.

“Well, there’s no-one else really is there?” replied Sean.

“I guess not” concluded Lisa. She was overcome with emotions. She was an aunt! She had never thought that she would be aunt because she had no siblings. But she and Sean were practically siblings. They did everything together. They had been friends almost from the moment that they met. That was in pre-school and they had stayed friends ever since.

       Suddenly, the baby began to wail. But it wasn’t an annoying screeching wail like in the movies. No. This was a warm, comforting wail. Almost like the baby was saying “Wow. Look at all of the space.” Lisa comforted the weeping infant in a matter of seconds, and passed it back to Sean. The baby couldn’t take its eyes off of her. She would remember that look for years to come.

 

***************************************************

 

 “Where were you young lady!?” Her mother’s piercing voice screeched through the hallway and straight into her earlobes. She bit her lip. This would take some excusing.

“I, er, went for a run.” She replied.

“At 2 o’clock in the morning?” Her mother glared at her with her scrutinising eyes, seeking the truth.

“Yeah, there’s never any traffic around so I like to go early.”

“You weren’t with that Sean boy were you?”

“No.”

“Because you know that I hate him don’t you?”

“Yes mum, I know.”

“Well you’re grounded for a month!”

“But mum-”

“No buts, straight to your room”. 

Lisa’s feet clumped up the stairs, every step audible from the sitting room below. The dust which had collectively settled underneath the stairs flew to the floor and landed with a dull THUMP.  

       She threw open her door and grabbed her phone. She started typing a message to Sean:

 

Grnded, cnt c u 2nite

 

It only took a couple of minutes for him to reply:

 

Sneak out, I nd 2 c u

She was slightly annoyed at the fact that he didn’t even care that she was grounded, but did it all the same. She crept out of the house, and ran around to the park.